It's your fault
by Meregil Svarteros Laevateinn
Summary: A coda to 15x03, because this episode left me in a mess. / The story is set a month after the end of the episode, when the brothers have started taking on new cases. They are called by hunters to deal with some demons who escaped at the beginning of the season. / Featuring a Sam who has had enough of Dean's bullshit and some angst / Can be read as Destiel / No happy ending


Life was sort of back on tracks for the Winchesters. The latest apocalypse had been adverted, and no big foe in view. Except if you counted the fact Chuck might be lurking around somewhere.

After taking some days off to rest and mourn, they had started looking up for new cases. Anything to distract them of the fact they were alone again in the Bunker. No more mom, no more Rowena, no more Jack, half their hunter friends from the other world gone… No more Cas. He was still alive, but had had no contact with them for weeks. Sam had received a text from the angel, telling him he was sorry about everything, that he wished him well and not to try to find him. He had also said he was going to do some small hunts. Sam hadn't said anything about that to Dean, considering the older hunter closed off completely if Castiel's name was spoken.

So it was again the Winchester brothers, hunting things, saving people. Carrying on with the family business. The events were far from forgotten or even processed, as the hallways at night could testify, but they were moving on. The blanket of grief was still present, along with the anger -most of it coming from Dean-, and the doubt. Doubt there ever was a team free will.

Weeks, almost a month after the entire debacle, there was still a lot of ghosts roaming free, the ones that escaped before Belphegor created the wall. Well ghosts and also demons. Other hunters had said they had seen some and only a few of the most experienced had engaged. The Winchesters were headed to North Dakota where they had been called. Demons had apparently started to regroup and a solo hunter they knew of name only had been killed already.

They arrived in Fargo in the middle of the morning and decided to check with the local authorities after they registered at a motel. People at the police station redirected them towards a bar in town, where the police captain was. There had been another killing, with three victims, two men and a woman, identities still unknown. Dean called the captain to ensure they would not touch the scene before they arrived. While he did that, Sam talked to a witness who had just finished giving his statement.  
The middle aged man had been at the bar with a small group of friends. He remembered seeing the first male victim walk in a bit after them, but nothing else of import. Then a group of five people had entered. He remembered them because he had felt uneasy when they walked in, something about the way they moved. Two of them, a man and a woman had left almost instantly when reaching the counter, and the three others had gone to the victim. The guy had recognised them and almost jumped out of his seat. The witness remembered the bartender trying to calm all of them, but she hadn't succeeded and the four had almost instantly taken on a fighting stance. Then everything had gone to shit, somebody called the police and in less than two minutes three people were dead. The witness had excused himself for not giving too much details about their appearance, because he said he wasn't reliable. According to him, seeing black eyes and a lot of light when one of the killings occurred meant he had been more than a bit drunk. Sam wasn't so sure about that. A feeling of dread pooling in his gut, he joined his brother and they left for the crime scene.

Outside the bar, a small policeman waved at them. "Agents Andrew Page and Scott Brown ?" he asked. The brothers nodded and flashed their FBI badges. "I'm Captain Kangee Miller. I'm actually glad the FBI is here. We got a weird one this time." He turned and led them inside. "I'm sure my colleagues told you the most important. We've got two dead men and a woman. A dozen of eye witnesses, but their testimonies are a bit strange. They all say they've seen some intense light, but there was no storm yesterday and that could be the only explanation."

The captain stopped to assess their reaction. Seeing only focused faces, he continued. "Here's the bartender, Mia Jones. She saw it all quite closely, so she should be able to tell you quite a lot." He pointed at a blonde woman with dread locks, who was wiping a counter that seemed already very clean.

"You can look at two of the victims for the moment, the science guys are still around the third, our weird one."

They thanked the captain and decided to talk to the bartender. They introduced themselves to the obviously still shaken woman and told her what they already knew.

"Well agents I don't know if I can tell you much more. I gave the police persons descriptions of the other attackers, the two who left in a hurry and the two who escaped. One of them, a guy, was injured I think and his friend made him leave without checking if the third one was following. He didn't seem very pleased with her decision but he left."

She paused a moment, and sensing she wanted to tell them something but was hesitant to, Sam pushed her a bit.

"Was there anything out of the ordinary about the attackers ?"

"Well... don't take me for a crazy person, it probably was just the light but... I think two of them had really dark eyes, almost black ?"

Well, definitely the demons they were after then.

"One of them, a guy, is here. "

One of the demons was dead ? How was that possible ? Could one of the other bodies be a hunter then ? But that meant the person had something to kill a demon, as nobody heard any Latin which ruled out an exorcism. And the list of those with demon killing weapons wasn't very long... Sam's bad feeling continued growing as Dean asked Mia to tell them about the victim who had been at the counter.

"Jason Swift, he said he was a journalist. He said he was here to cover the series of deaths in our town. The poor man seemed so sad I offered him two of his drinks. We talked about the deaths and then, professional digression if you want, we talked a bit about what was on his mind. Left his home and had been travelling around alone for a month. He talked a bit more but that's probably not interesting to you. Seemed heartbroken."

She turned his head to the last body, where the tech guys were finishing their work.

"He died protecting us. He had this weird sword that he used to kill one of his attackers. He managed to hit the other guy before he did any damage, but the woman had killed the third victim before. She stabbed him, then her and his friend ran out."

They thanked her, then walked towards the bodies. It wasn't really necessary because they knew they were after demons, but two FBI agents walking out of a crime scene with it taking a look a the victims would seem strange. Sam took the two 'normal' ones and Dean the third victim who was a bit farther.

The anxiety Sam was feeling accompanied him when he crouched to lift the sheet covering the first victim. He was about to do the same for the second when he heard Dean exhale a broken "No". He dropped the sheet and turned his head. Dean's face had lost all colour and his brother was staring blankly ahead.

Please don't let Sam's gut feeling get confirmed. Please don't be somebody they know. They had lost too many people already. Sam slowly walked towards the third body, repeating this mantra in his head. He could see a black pair of shoes when Dean bolted out of the room, fists shaking along his body.

Not a lot of people could make his brother react like this. As Sam came to a halt next to the body, he saw black smudges on the floor.

A rock fell in his gut, and he fell on one knee. Please not this. Not him.

Sam shakingly inhaled and lifted the sheet. The air in his lungs left at once as his fears became reality. Before him, laying on the ground was Castiel. Trench coat splayed beneath him, his white shirt now almost completely red. His eyes were wide open, their formerly vibrant blue now dull, almost grey. His mouth was tinged red with blood and his face was the paler he had ever seen.

Sam closed his hands into fists as he tried to breathe again. Cas was dead too. After his mom, his almost son, a good friend he was growing closer every time they saw each other... His best friend. His best friend he hadn't seen for almost a month and which last contact had been by text.

Sam rose to his feet and searched the room for the police captain. He told him they were done for now and thanked him. Ignoring the sharp ache in his chest, he asked Captain Miller to forgive his partner who had stormed out. Seeing the last victim had revived some bad memories.

The hunter left the oppressing room under the inquisitive stare of the bartender to find his brother sitting on the stairs outside.

Without a word, Dean stood up and they entered the Impala. The ride back to the motel was spent in silence, Dean's hand white from the pressure.

Sam turned the events of last month in his head again and again. He should have pushed to talk to Castiel. He should have tried, even though his brother's word probably was the only one capable to make the angel change his mind. He should have been there to support him, regardless of Dean's feelings. They had been mourning, but Cas had been too.

Dean kept silent until they passed the door of their room.

"That idiot got himself killed like an amateur."

"Shut up."

"What ?"

"You heard me Dean."

The older brother opened his mouth, about to protest. "Seriously shut up."

"I'm sorry what ?" Dean asked, mouth curling up in anger.

"You don't get to say that. You have no right to say Castiel was an idiot to hunt alone and get caught like a newbie. He was alone because he left. And he left because of you."

Dean scoffed. "Don't tell me you were okay with what he did."

Of course Sam was not okay with it, Rowena was dead. But he could understand. He ran a hand in his hair. "Yes I was angry at him at first. But then I realised he did the thing none of us would have had the courage to do. He adverted a new catastrophe. And yes, I still mourn Rowena, but he saw the greater picture and proved he learned from the past."

"It's not just Rowena."

"What, mom ?" A stony face answered him. "Yes I'm devastated she's dead. But she's in Heaven now and not suffering anymore. And it wasn't Cas fault. You know it as well as I do."

"He said nothing even though he knew Jack didn't have a soul anymore."

"Because he wanted to protect his family. How many times did we do the same thing ? And let's face it, if for you Cas is to blame for mom then we all are. We all saw something was off with Jack but all chose to keep it to ourselves."

Dean grunted and turned his head. "And you're gonna tell me it's not his fault either if Rowena's dead ?"

We're running in circles. "If you really want to blame somebody, then it's me, or Chuck. Not Cas."

"Well if he hadn't fucked up the plan like he often does Rowena would still be alive."

Like he… Oh come one. "Stop that. Cas has made as much errors as we did. You make it sound like all he ever did was bad. He sacrificed everything for us - no, for you, everything. And you and I were not the best at thanking him for that." Far from that actually. Sam had tried to be a better friend, but with all that happened probably hadn't been. "I get you're angry at everything, but after all these years you'd think you learned not to lash on the people closest to you. But no you did it again and he finally got enough. He left and because he was alone and depowered he got killed."

His voice had started to get higher and louder, so he took a deep breath.

"So you shut up, we find the demons then we bury him like he deserves. And if you're not happy about that you can keep it to yourself. Cas is dead because of you !"

Sam let his words sink in Dean's skull before he started to move. His brother collapsed in the closest chair and put his head in his hands. Good. The sharp satisfaction he got hearing Dean's breath hitch instantly hot washed with guilt about it. He shouldn't be satisfied his brother was suffering, but the childish part of himself wanted to see Dean hurt like he did.

Closing the door after announcing he was getting food, he sighed. Half their friends and family were dead. The only ones left were Jody and the girls only a few of the hunters from this and the other word.

Shit, Claire. They were going to have to tell her for the second time in two years that Cas was dead.

Sam took his phone from his pocket and searched through his contact list. He paused upon seeing Jody's name. Should he tell her first? Yeah, maybe. So that if Claire calls her she will know already what happened.

The call with Jody went well and ended with a promise for both the brothers and Claire of an ear to listen if they wanted to.

Sam bought some food and decided to call the young woman on his way back.

"Hi Claire."


End file.
